Mayor wants to allow farming in Worcester

Thursday

Jan 30, 2014 at 3:22 PMJan 30, 2014 at 3:26 PM

By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Mayor Joseph M. Petty is pushing for an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance that would allow urban farmers to grow food for commercial purposes in areas zoned for manufacturing and industrial uses.

Mr. Petty said he would like to see city planners and local community agencies collaborate in creating an urban agriculture zoning ordinance similar to one that was recently established in Boston.

That ordinance, known as Article 89, allows urban farmers to grow food for commercial purposes in much of Boston, whether it be in soil, in water, on rooftops or even in shipping containers.

The mayor said urban farming is a growing trend in New England cities, including Boston and Providence, as well as in other urban areas across the country, including New York City.

Mr. Petty said many areas of the city do not have access to fresh food and allowing urban farms in designated areas is a good way of getting locally grown food to the tables of those homes.

"I've met with some people about this, and they would like to see what is happening in Boston be allowed in Worcester," Mr. Petty said. "Groups are getting together producing fresh food in many cities across the country. With this (urban agriculture zoning) designation, fresh food could be produced here and brought right to the table. It's something we should look at."

In addition to providing city residents with greater access to fresh food, the mayor said the urban agriculture zoning designation could serve as an economic development catalyst through the creation of jobs.

At Mr. Petty's request, the City Council Tuesday night referred the matter to City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. for consideration.

The council also wants its Public Health and Human Services Committee to study the matter in conjunction with items pending before that committee relative to a proposed ordinance that would allow people to raise chickens on their property.

That ordinance, which was pushed for by former City Councilors Barbara G. Haller and Joseph C. O'Brien, has been sitting in committee for more than two years.

In 2013, a group of Worcester Polytechnic Institute students did an Interdisciplinary Qualifying Project entitled: "Mapping the Potential for Urban Agriculture in Worcester."

As part of their research report, the students — Jay Ringenback, Matthew Valcourt and Wenli Wang — found that Worcester does not have any zoning provisions for agricultural use of land.

They concluded that the lack of agricultural zoning serves as a barrier to the development of urban agriculture.

The WPI students said urban agriculture can provide jobs to people of all ages, through the growing, harvesting or preparation of locally grown food.

They added while urban farms are not expected to generate enough food to support an entire city, they can help by providing access to affordable healthy food.

"Other cities have addressed this issue by amending their zoning ordinance to allow for agriculture to take place in certain parts of their respective cities," the students wrote in their 133-page report. "We recommend that Worcester identify the barriers in their zoning ordinance to urban agriculture, as well as explore options to make use of parcels that have been vacant for an extended period of time.

"In this manner, the land would not be dedicated to agricultural use solely, but the option would be available. As a result the number of vacant lots in Worcester could be reduced, thus serving to create a more economically and ecologically sustainable city."

As part of their project report, the three WPI students also did a survey/inventory of Worcester's land use and identified 337 vacant parcels totaling more than 2,500 acres.

Of that, they found that 68 parcels were larger than 10 acres, with three larger than 100 acres.

They said parcels of that size could be developed as urban farms or leased to commercial farmers for large-scale food production, depending on current site conditions and the feasibility of acquiring the land.